Directors and cinematographers
focus on how to tell their story, but it’s people like Parke Gregg who ensure
that the visual details of a film work in tandem with the director’s vision.
Gregg, a self-taught colorist who’s now co-founder of the video post-production
studio

Female camera
operators are still the exception in film and TV, but that never deterred Bonnie
Blake, who’s carved out an impressive career. She’s always in demand, and her credits
read like a list of TV’s biggest hits, from Malcolm
in the Middle to Monk to CSI: NY.

Mike Simpson set out to study philosophy, but when he added
a major in film and started working on student projects while studying at the
University of Texas, Austin, he became fascinated with how light can radically
change the visual artistry in a film.

Founded by husband and wife Robin Canfield and Aubrie Cambell, the pair’s philanthropic production company leads student-based film crews around the world to recount the stories of individuals and organizations that are leading sustainable initiatives to thwart chronic social and environmental problems.

You may not have heard of Peter Simonite, but you know his work. Taking on nearly every job in the photography, cinematography, and camera operation departments for film, television, and commercials, Simonite’s enormous body of work ranges from Star Trek: Generations to Friday Night Lights the television series to music videos for Spoon and Explosions in the Sky.

Just about everything an actor touches or uses in a scene is considered a prop. Taking into account the full run of a two-hour movie, that could amount to hundreds or even thousands of objects. To keep the massive inventory organized and make sure that every item is at the cast’s fingertips when it’s needed, the assistant property master is the right hand of the department.

A single visual effects sequence is often the work of dozens of artists, all contributing assets through processes of motion tracking, match moving, compositing, lighting, and animation. It is the role of the sequence supervisor to ensure that the work of each artist comes together seamlessly, producing a polished, finished product.

The second unit of a film is a crew that is responsible for shooting supplementary footage; this includes establishing shots, stunts, inserts, and cutaways. This crew is separate from the first unit, which is the team that films scenes with the leading cast. When a series of shots are deemed too expensive, dangerous, or time-consuming for the first unit to accomplish, the second unit director leads his or her team to capture the necessary scenes.

Consider for a moment the last feature film you saw in the theater or on Netflix, did you dutifully sit through the entire credit roll? Probably not. Somewhere, the negative cutter on Jurassic Park is crying inside.

At some point in the near future, we might have to stop calling them films. Today, high-definition and 24p digital video are becoming increasingly popular among moviemakers, eliminating the roles of film processors, colorists, and timers, and replacing them with the new role of the digital imaging technician.